Last week's column about adding video to this page generated an extraordinary amount of interest, with more than a thousand readers e-mailing me directly. While I could answer each of those thoughtful messages with a thoughtful reply, I couldn't do so and have time to eat or bathe, so this column will have to suffice. In consultation with PBS Interactive, and heavily relying on reader response, we have tentatively decided to move forward toward adding downloaded video features to the site. It will take a few months, but downloadable video is coming.

Reader response has been 98 percent positive, so let's deal with the other two percent first. Those who are opposed to the idea generally fall into one of three groups. They either claim to have not watched television since their Dumont TV imploded during a particularly violent episode of "Gunsmoke" in 1959, or they see me as a total boob who is barely tolerable in print and not at all in video, or they fear the text column will suffer because of my video dabbling.

To the first of these folks I would generally reply that TV exists and that isn't going to change just because they don't choose to watch it. Also, since they missed the end of the show, Miss Kitty stood by tearfully while Doc Adams removed a bullet from Marshal Dillon's leg and Chester worried that he might have to arrest someone. The bad guys, of course, were killed.

Those who see me as a total boob feel I am unfit for TV work. These people seem from their messages to be generally unaware that I have been making TV documentaries for the last seven years, some of which have won awards and all of which have been seen in dozens of countries. If, as Andy Warhol said, we all get our 15 minutes of fame, apparently mine already came and went and lots of people weren't watching television that day.

I am gratified, though, to the people who like my column and fear it will be hurt by adding video. I won't allow that. The column won't change. Video will simply be added as an entirely separate feature. I think it will give me access to more and better information, too, which can yield better columns.

What many people failed to grasp, or more likely what I failed to adequately say, is that this is, to a certain extent, a matter of change or die. My column, while one of the best-read parts of PBS Interactive, has never broken-even for PBS, nor does it particularly add readers to the main portal, since most folks get to me through bookmarks, links from other sites, or from our "Tell Me When" notification service. This makes me vulnerable should PBS decide to cut back in future. While it may not be outwardly obvious, adding video means for the first time creating a staff and building some depth — depth that would be supported by new funding that would be completely separate from PBS. This, more than anything else, is a way of ensuring the column's survival.

Most other readers were generally supportive. The nerd community got lost, of course, in the myriad possible meanings of my term "open source television." Many of these people have far too much time on their hands. All I meant was that by providing the source — that is the raw footage from which the program is edited — those who are suspicious of my intent can either be reassured or have the ammunition needed to prove their fears. I expect few people will ever look at the raw footage, but it takes little effort to make it available and sets a sort of precedent. Yes, people could recut the show to make different points or even to subvert the positions of the speakers, but having my version and the raw footage always available online will quickly show the world the truth. And under the GPL license, they would be required to say where the video came from originally, not to mention the fact that we might make a try at video watermarking. This is all with an effort to promote the site, the column, and the show, because this is an opportunity to create a whole new kind of hit — a hit that can lead to more shows of many types presented in a similar manner.

As for the video technology to be used, no decisions have been made. I would like the show to be available on all computer platforms and I would like it to be very bandwidth efficient, both of which point me away from many of the current popular streaming solutions. I also dislike custom viewer applications, since they often can't be used by people at work. So don't be surprised to see me roll my own solution with some weird codec and an applet reader.

But there is plenty of time for those decisions to be made and remade, since the video won't be added until September. Let me repeat that: The video won't be added until September. These things take time to do correctly.

And yes, I will certainly consider peer-to-peer distribution. But the point of Open Source is that even if I don't do peer-to-peer, it doesn't mean that you can't do it, anyway. Gnutella, Limewire, whatever your preferred flavor of p2p, I say, "Go for it."

Many readers suggested doing an audio version. This is something I hadn't considered and I think it is a great idea. Not only will we do an audio-only version of the video, we'll also add an audio version of the text column, too. Remember, the column and the show are completely separate products, and you can like or hate them independently, too.

One thing we won't do is to ask people to pay for content or sell their names to anyone else. In fact, we won't even collect names. The video site will probably have some form of registration, but all it will collect is a zip or postal code. The point of this is to acknowledge the valuable assistance of PBS local stations by putting a link on the page so you can easily get to your local station's homepage if you are reading in the U.S. or to the main PBS page if you are reading abroad. Or you can simply lie to us, but doing so means you risk missing both "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" AND "Barney." But seriously folks, we won't know anything else about you, and you don't ever have to click on that link, but it will be there if you want to.

The final bit of news I might add here is that I definitely won't be doing this video experiment on my own. My partner in crime will be John Gau, my longtime TV producer in the UK. John, who produced and appeared in "Plane Crazy" and executive produced "Triumph of the Nerds," "Nerds 2.01," and "Electric Money," is one of the great innovators of British television. He worked for many years at the BBC, where he was head of factual programming, so we will only be allowed to tell the truth.

I have written that one of the great advantages of startup companies is their lack of professionalism, because professionalism is too expensive and too slow for early stage companies, but I don't think that applies in this case. Our once-a-week interview program will be much better for being produced by a guy who used to do once-a-night interview programs for national television. But don't worry, John is only slightly less crazy than me, so we'll be sure to keep the shows fun to watch. We'll choose the correct interview subjects, ask the hard questions, and embarrass mercilessly the right people. And I suppose I'll get a haircut, too.